Alabama shooting at least 6 dead

[Radar]

Happening Now.

MSNBC reporting 6 dead at least.
In the following Alabama cities: Kinston, Samson, & Geneva

At least 10 dead in two-town Alabama shooting spree - CNN.com

Multiple deaths reported in Ala. shooting spree - Crime & courts- msnbc.com

[Willowdared]

A deputy's wife and child are among the victims.

Eight people were reported dead in Alabama last night—including the wife and child of a police officer—after a gun massacre that brought back grim memories of other atrocities in Columbine, Colorado, and Blacksburg, Virginia.



According to local media reports, a lone gunman began the massacre in Samson, a town of 2,000 in the southeastern part of the state, near the Florida border, and continued it in nearby Geneva, with at least one victim being targeted along the way on Highway 52.



It is thought that the gunman first killed five people at a mobile home in Samson, then shot a man apparently at random as he was walking along a pavement, then drove to a Big/Little store, where he opened fire again.



He continued his killing spree at a nearby Bradley True-Value Hardware store, before setting off for Geneva—twice as populated as Samson—reportedly firing at vehicles along the way.



It was when the shooter was sitting in his parked car outside a Wal-Mart in Geneva, firing randomly at the customers, that police finally caught up with him.



A detective, Ricky Morgan, rammed him with his pick-up truck while Geneva’s police chief, Frankie Lindsey, crept up on the vehicle. Mr Lindsey was shot in the arm and later hospitalised.


A witness, Soleta Darden, told a local newspaper: “I heard five shots to my right, and then I looked up and saw a maroon Eclipse [car] speed off from the scene, then I saw deputies and troopers in pursuit after him. I was just scared, crazy scared. I thought, ‘what the crap is going on’?”



Alina Knowles described the scene. “You want to talk about a horrific scene,” she said. “You see what I saw. I went to get the baby. There was blood all over that porch. The baby was covered in her mother’s blood.”



The suspect reportedly fled down Highway 27, where he stopped at a store named Reliable Metal Products and was confronted by a local gamekeeper named Joel Hendren, and another police officer, Tony Helms.



There was a shootout, and the gunman ran into the building, where 500 employees were working, and then apparently shot himself fatally.



“Five were killed in a trailer in Samson,” said a police spokesman in Birmingham, Alabama, last night. “Two more died in the Big and Little Store in Geneva. The suspect died in the Reliable store in Geneva. It is uncertain whether he killed himself or was killed by one of the sheriffs. He shot at several vehicles on the highway and then he shot at Wal-Mart and Piggly Wiggly in Geneva.”


“He was shooting anyone he saw,” said Geneva’s mayor, Wynnton Melton. Harri Smith, an Alabama state Senator, added: “This was probably one of the worst instances [of this kind of violence] in Alabama history, at least in the last several years."

[Five-0]

First I've heard of this.

[Retdetsgt]

It's up to 10 dead now...
10 shot, killed in south Ala. towns; shooter dead

[Radar]

Right now in the LEO field, they are reporting the Geneva Police Chief was shot but not seriously, and that a Sheriff's deputy's wife and child were shot and killed.

They are also saying they are getting word now that there is something possibly related that happened in Coffeeville, AL earlier today, but they haven't advised what that is. Coffeeville isn't all that close to this, although it is a drivable distance.

I believe the Chief of police for Coffeeville is a member on here, can't think of his username at the moment.


Our thoughts and prayers are with the Deputy, Chief, and the communities involved.

[Buttercup]

How horrible. Thoughts and prayers to all involved.

[Jenna]

May the dead rest in peace. Thoughts to their friends and families.

[Retdetsgt]

That's terrible. My prayers are with those poor people and their families....

Now we wait for the gun control crowd to raise it's shrill voice.....

[CTR man]

My condolences to the families, friends and colleagues of the fallen. I can't imagine what that Deputy is going through at this moment. I know if it were me, I would need a lot of help.

[swaggon]

Condolences brother! Here come the anti's.

[snuffy2202]

This is extremetly sad for everyone.

This is one day after a Quaduple homicide in Hueytown, Alabama.

Suspect Scott Lamar Abbott, age 24, will be in court today in Bessemer, Alabama. Police in Hueytown, AL believe Abbott murdered William Chad Gilbert, 31, Nika Sandlin, age 24, 26-year-old Joshua Gilleo and Jeri Lynn Cole, age 27.
Scott Abbott lived in the residence where the murders occurred up till a few weeks ago, when he was told to leave.

Authorities believe Abbott wasn't happy with that arrangement, to say the least. They think the 6'7" male stripper entered the home where the murders occurred around 3 a.m. Saturday. He stabbed each victim several times, creating what one veteran cop termed "one of the most horrific" crime scenes he'd ever seen.
Then, fortunately for justice, Abbott pulled an idiot move and showed up at a hospital in Gadsden, Alabama. Hospital staff found his excuse for his own knife wounds a little suspect and called Gadsden police. The Gadsden PD eventually delivered Abbott to the Hueytown police.

[Willowdared]

Right now in the LEO field, they are reporting the Geneva Police Chief was shot but not seriously, and that a Sheriff's deputy's wife and child were shot and killed.

They are also saying they are getting word now that there is something possibly related that happened in Coffeeville, AL earlier today, but they haven't advised what that is. Coffeeville isn't all that close to this, although it is a drivable distance.

I believe the Chief of police for Coffeeville is a member on here, can't think of his username at the moment.


Our thoughts and prayers are with the Deputy, Chief, and the communities involved.

AP Top News at 11:00 p.m. EDT
1 hour ago
SAMSON, Ala. (AP) — A coroner says the suspect in a shooting rampage that killed at least 10 people in south Alabama began his day of bloodshed by burning down his mother's house where officials found her body. Coffee County Coroner Robert Preachers says officials have not been able to enter the house outside of Kinston to determine if she was shot. Preachers says the suspect then went to nearby Samson and killed his grandparents, aunt and uncle.

[Captain America]

Opportunity and a full magazine instead of unarmed innocent people next time is all I ask Lord.
What a senseless act.......

[Five-0]

Condolences brother! Here come the anti's.

Yep, I'm hearing he used an SKS and a Bushmaster, so you know the (tongue in cheek here) evil assualt weapon killed those people and not the nut.

Trooper gave an interview to the press about the "assault weapons" and high capcity mags.

[Hondo]

Have they released suspect info yet?

[Big Al]

This will give the liberals something to talk about when it comes to proposed gun control crap

[Five-0]

Here is a link identifying the shooter:
Geneva County gunman 'cleaned his family out' in rampage - CBS 42

I am hearing that he was an expert marksman, and that he had received "police training" in 2003. He was also using a shotgun and a handgun. I can see the handgun part being correct since there are stories of some rounds being stopped the vest(s) worn by officers. I have also heard, but not verified that the shooter was also wearing body armor. This is what I am hearing on the radio. As I find links I will post them up.

[Five-0]

Alabama Shooter Abruptly Quit Job Last Week

Alabama Shooter Michael McLendon Was 'Quiet'

Alabama Shooter Often 'Kept To Himself,' Had Quit Job Last Week

By EMILY FRIEDMAN

March 11, 2009 —

The gunman who turned a rural stretch of Alabama into a slaughterhouse was a "quiet " guy who was briefly a member of a small town police department.
Michael McLendon, 27, of Kinston, Ala., was described by former high school classmates and others who knew him as a former A student who "never had very much to say."
Until last week, McLendon was working at Kelley Foods, a sausage manufacturer and food distributor in nearby Elba., Ala. He abruptly quit last Wednesday.
"Michael was employed from July 27, 2007, until he voluntary quit on Wednesday of last week," said Erik Ennis, a spokesman for Kelley Foods Inc.
Ennis declined to say whether McLendon, who killed 10 people Tuesday in a rampage that targeted members of his family as well as strangers, had given a reason for leaving his job.
According to Ennis, McLendon had worked in the store's manufacturing division and was a "reliable team member."
"Michael by nature was a quiet person that never had very much to say. He just did his job," said Ennis.
"He was liked by his co-workers and worked well with others," he added.
At a news conference in Geneva, Ala., today Alabama Bureau of Investigation Chief Jerry Connor said that McLendon was briefly a Samson police officer, but failed to complete the training and left the job.
Cecil Knowles, who lives in Samson, Ala., said he graduated from Samson High School in 1999 beside McLendon, and also knew him to be reserved.
"He was always very quiet," said Knowles, who said that with only 36 students in the graduating senior class everyone was "close like a family."
"He was an A student and had no problems. He never got into any trouble," said Knowles. "He stuck to himself a lot of the time."
Knowles said that after graduation he "never heard from McLendon again" except from seeing him occasionally around town.
"I never would have expected [McLendon] to do anything like this," said Knowles. "I'm shocked."
A receptionist at Samson High School said she was being inundated by media requests and declined to answer questions about McLendon.
Neighbors told ABCNews.com that McLendon had also worked at the Reliable Metal Products Factory in Geneva, Ala., the same location where he ended his shooting spree several years ago.
Investigators who have been following the 24-mile trail of death led by McLendon are still unsure as to what set the shooter off.
"He cleaned his family out," Coffee County coroner Robert Preachers said. "We don't know what triggered it."
Alabama state trooper John Reese told "Good Morning America" this morning, "We are still unclear of what caused the incident."



Copyright © 2009 ABC News Internet Ventures

[pgg]

I'm afraid this is going to turn into a gun grab excuse also.

[121Traffic]

RDS, remember when you said the Dems would wait for a significant gun tragedy before using the political capital to push for a new AWB? This might be it.

Prayers to all involved.